Gilsin Grass
Gilsin Grass is a highly invasive xenobotanical species of plant life originating from the Rift and which can almost be described as hostile. It is even theorized it possesses some basic animal-like intelligence. Since its discovery early in the Second Age during the Arisen Epoch, it has completely taken over several thousand (if not more) square kilometers in Dharnush and, to a lesser extent, Tsarak at the southern tip of the continent and continues to expand rapidly. This area is now known simply as "The Gilsin". Description A single gilsin plant typically consists of a tall green stalk averaging about three meters in height with some broad leaves attached to it. At the top of this stalk is what's known as the "pod", an egg-shaped membranous sac one or two meters in diameter that changes colors based on time of year (going from slightly green in autumn to a sickly yellow in summer). All over the pod are massive seed pods shaped like spear heads with tough fibrous husks and razor sharp tips. Attached to the base and sometimes the trunk of the main stalk are typically a number of thick creeper vines that can grow up to 40cm a cycle. Life Cycle Starting from a seed pod, it takes a little over a year and a half for a gilsin plant to reach the average size, at which point it begins to take part in the fascinating and utterly destructive procreation process of the species. Over the course of a year, the pod of a gilsin plant begins to fill up with a very sticky sap-like fluid. However, near the start of summer, another fluid begins to be added to the pod as well. This one is ostensibly liquid pollen and is highly reactive and toxic to virtually every form of life on Khaltotuin. This eventually creates an unstable reaction and somewhere near the height of summer one plant in the Gilsin, for all it takes is one, goes off. The pod bursts wide open, spewing its sap and pollen everywhere in a great burst and rocketing its torpedo-like seed pods in every direction, sometimes several hundred meters if the plant is big enough. With the pod having burst, the plant is now ready to receive pollination and its explosive reaction coupled with the projectile seed pods sets off a chain reaction, rupturing the pods of every nearby plant. This then spreads throughout the entire Gilsin. Often times, lesser plants are completely destroyed by either the powerful burst of a nearby pod or the constant impalement and laceration by seedpods. Even if they are not destroyed outright, if a seedpod lodges in another plant's stalk, it can become parasitic and eventually completely take over that plant. Thus, within the Gilsin, it truly is survival of the fittest. Uses There is only one known use for gilsin grass and that is the sap found in the pod before it is mixed with the liquid pollen. This sap is both sweet and contains slight traces of alcohol. Through a fairly simple process the sap can be harvested and then distilled to produce 'gorma', a sweet alcoholic beverage similar to a diluted treacle. Category:Botany Category:Plants Category:Complete Articles